Tandem in top gear as sun shines

WARM April weather has fuelled demand for bicycles, boosting sales at manufacturer Tandem's new Dawes Cycles division. Tandem, which also owns Falcon Cycles, is keen to stick with British manufacturing despite arch-rival Raleigh's recent decision to buy in bikes from the Far East.

Finance director Mervyn Keene, said: 'When you import you have a 90-day lead time, so it takes longer to respond to trends. If red becomes popular instead of blue, and you've got blue on order, what can you do?'

Tandem shifted Dawes' production to Falcon's North Lincolnshire factory after buying the loss-making business for £736,000 last June - one of a recent flurry of well-received leisure acquisitions. The most recent was Ben Sayers golf clubs, whose first new range - M2i - under its new owner has won rave reviews, fuelling a budget-beating performance.

Operating profits in the year to 31 January were £1.5m against £734,000 the previous year on sales up from £26.5m to £32.6m.

Keene was upbeat about prospects for the first quarter and has ratcheted up production at Dawes.